The Latest: EU official urges Catalonia not to break away

A woman waves flags of Catalonia and Spain as people celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

Soraya Saenz de Santamaria says that if there is no immediate solution and Catalan separatists drop the independence bid, the government will consider lowering the growth forecast for the overall Spanish economy for 2018.

Around 40 Catalan banks, multinationals and mid-size businesses have moved their registered addresses out of the troubled region. The move is so far mainly symbolic and has limited economic impact because it doesn’t involve relocating offices, jobs or assets.

But the deputy prime minister says that investment in Catalonia is falling and, citing industry sources, she said the tourism sector in the region has seen business drop between 20 and 30 per cent in the past month.

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10:15 a.m.

An influential grassroots separatist group has joined voices in Catalonia urging the regional president to ignore warnings from Spain’s central government and definitively declare independence.

The Assemblea Nacional Catalana, or ANC, has issued a brief statement calling for regional leader Carles Puigdemont to lift a temporary suspension of an ambiguous independence proclamation he made this week.

Puigdemont said that Catalonia was proceeding with independence but proposed freezing its implementation for a few weeks to see if negotiations could be held with Spanish authorities.

The central government responded by threatening to activate constitutional powers to take over Catalonia’s self-government.

Adding pressure on Puigdemont, ANC says that “it doesn’t make sense to keep the suspension of the independence declaration” given Madrid’s rejection of any dialogue.

The ANC is a civil society group that organized massive protests in support of secession.

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10 a.m.

A key political ally of the ruling pro-independence coalition in Catalonia has urged regional president Carles Puigdemont to push ahead with a declaration of independence from Spain.

Spain’s government has threatened to activate unprecedented measures to take over Catalonia’s self-government if secession plans go forward.

Central authorities have given Puigdemont a Monday deadline to clarify whether he declared independence during an ambiguous parliamentary speech this week. He had said that Catalonia was proceeding with a declaration of independence, but proposed freezing its implementation for a few weeks to allow for dialogue and mediation with Spain’s government.

The far-left separatist Catalan party CUP said in a letter dated Friday that Puigdemont should ignore the Spanish government’s warning, lift the suspension and definitively proclaim independence.